1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to a new helical split ring food product shape and a method and apparatus for making the same. More particularly, it relates to a helical split ring french fry and a potato cutting apparatus which notches a potato along its longitudinal axis immediately before the potato is fed into a helical ring cutter blade assembly.
2. Background Art
The traditional American french fry is a well accepted food and method of serving potatoes both here in the United States and in Western Europe. Indeed, it is rapidly gaining wide acceptance around the world. As a result, a large industry has grown up around the french fry, starting with sophisticated horticultural practices, through crop storage, to processing whole potatoes into frozen french fries, and finally, to supermarkets, restaurants and fast food chains. This industry is, of course, consumer driven. It is the consuming population that generates the demand and growth within the industry.
The typical configuration for the standard french fry has, in general terms, been dictated by the shape of the potato. The most desireable types of potatoes used for processing into french fries are the varieties that produce the largest tuber potato. For example, and for purposes of illustration throughout this specification, the Russet Burbank potato variety commonly grown in the state of Idaho and the eastern regions of the states of Washington and Oregon will be used as an example. This potato is generally oblong in shape and, for french fry processing, has a minimum size of approximately three inches in length by two inches in width. As a result, it can be generally described as having a longitudinal axis running through its center along its length and a shorter transverse axis passing through the center point of the potato at its widest point.
For processing of the standard french fries, the potato is cut along and parallel to its longitudinal axis in generally rectangular configurations to produce long french fry pieces preferably of uniform cross sectional area. It is important that the french fries be of relatively uniform cross sectional area because they are bulk processed and cooked.
The typical french fry processing operation involves peeling the whole potatoes and then passing them either through mechanical or hydraulically driven potato cutters wherein the raw, whole potato is cut into french fry pieces. These cut food pieces are then blanched to break down certain enzymes and par fried in preparation for freezing. Typically blast freezers are used to quick freeze the cut, blanched and par fried french fry pieces prior to packaging.
Because of the volumes of french fry pieces being processed in any given processing plant, the cross sectional area, and more importantly the uniformity of cross sectional area, and how the cut french fry pieces tangle together are particularly important factors in the blanching, par frying and freezing process. Ideally, the cut french fry pieces will be of uniform cross sectional area, and not tangled too much together so as to lay against one another and form large mass areas which would require additional processing time for blanching, par frying and freezing. After they are cut, they are grade inspected for removal of nonuniform pieces and below grade quality. Again, as with the other processing steps, grading for both quality and size of cut food pieces is most easily accomplished when the cut food pieces are not tangled, interlocked or interwoven together.
As it relates to the end use of the french fries, the same or very similar factors are considered. In restaurants, particularly fast food restaurants, it is very important that the cut french fry pieces not be interlocked together since it is important to be able to package uniformly sized serving portions. And, as in the case with the blanching, par frying and blast freezing process, cooking is usually done in bulk and for that reason, if the potatoes are of uniform cross sectional area and size, as a general rule they will cook at the same rate. If on the other hand they are of nonuniform size, then the smaller pieces will be more thoroughly cooked, and perhaps overcooked long before the larger pieces are ready for consumption. Again, as with blanching, par frying and freeze drying, if the cut food pieces are interwoven or interlocked together, they form greater, localized masses where two pieces of potato are locked together, which effects the cooking.
Given all of these processing and cooking considerations, it must still be kept in mind that the industry is consumer demand driven. There is a constant and continuing demand for new shaped french fry cuts. As a result, efforts have been made to develop novel shaped french fries such as french fries formed in the shape of fish, or the letter M, or a variety of other geometric shapes as shown in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,045. While decorative cut french fries can and are produced using these processes, it increases the costs of processing since it is a two stage process. First, the core of the potato must be cut into a decorative shape, then, secondly, in an independent cutting process, the core must be cross sliced to form french fry size pieces.
One shape, developed a number of years ago, has found popular acceptance with the consuming public, but presents a dearth of problems for the processor and restauranteur, is the helical spiral french fry commonly known as the curly-Q or curly french fry. These helical spirals of french fry pieces are cut mechanically by a process of engaging the potato, end on, into a rotating cutter blade assembly having a plurality of ring cutters extending normally out from the blade and a sheer blade similar to the cutter blade assembly shown in FIG. 3. As the potato is pushed continuously into engagement with the rotating cutter blade, the ring cutters continuously dig into and cut concentric rings in the potato pulp. These concentric rings are then sheered from the body of the potato by the sheer blade and pass through a hole in the cutter blade assembly to the other side. This results in the formation of helical spirals of cut potato pieces of varying diameters which are, in a large part concentrically intertwined, one within the other. The major difference between the cutter blade assembly shown in FIG. 3 and a helical spiral cutter is caused by the need for some mechanism to keep the potato from rotating with the cutter blade assembly as soon as ring cutters and the sheer blade engage the body of the potato. Typically this is achieved by use of an auger like drill extending out from the central axis of the cutter blade which continuously drills into the body of the potato as it is being fed into the cutter blade assembly.
In a second prior art embodiment, the blades are held stationary and the potato is simultaneously rotated and forced into engagement with the stationary blades.
As far as the french fry processors are concerned, this helical spiral french fry cut is one of the most difficult cuts to produce in that the raw cut food pieces are concentrically intertwined together, making grading, sorting and packaging difficult, blanching and par frying longer processes, and blast freezing more expensive. For the restauranteur, since the cut food pieces are intertwined together, the cut french fry pieces are in contact with each other at numerous points along the spiral lengths, which results in large point source masses which are undercooked in the bulk frying process. Additionally, since the pieces are intertwined, achieving uniform portion size and prepared food plate presentation are made more difficult. As a general rule, it can be said that our consuming public likes the helical spiral french fry, processors and the restauranteurs do not.
Accordingly, what is needed, is a circular or spiral cut french fry piece which does not concentrically intertwine, one with the other so that it has grading, blanching, par frying and blast freezing characteristics similar, and ideally, identical to the standard straight rectangular french fry.
A second object of this invention is to provide a cutting apparatus which can cut spiral ring shaped french fry pieces in a single cutting process. Thus, eliminating the requirement for a second cutting stage wherein a potato core is cross sliced.